Hi everyone!
Not too long ago, on the 29th of July, marked exactly one year since beginning my journey of letting my hair form into dreadlocks naturally. On the 29th of July, 2013, I was sitting in bed and decided that I was going to stop messing with my hair and just let it do what naturally happens. I gathered all my brushes and combs and threw most of them away, while donating the rest to be used on my dogs. I then went into my bathroom and gathered all of my conventional shampoos and conditioners and disposed of them. Finally, I took a shower and washed my hair with Dr. Bronners, and that was the beginning of my journey. It was all very symbolic, and I was so liberated at that moment!
I couldn't find a picture with just my loose, tangle-free and wavy hair. I think this one is from the day that i started, right after I washed it for the first time without conditioner. Although, it might be after the second wash.
My hair started to dread very, very quickly. It didn't look like dreads, of course, but it was extremely knotty, and shrunk so much. Before dreading, it reached basically to the middle of my back, and within weeks it lost nearly half the length.
This photo was taken around I think the 6th week. Very wild and very knotty!
Fast forward about a year, and here are the results. Throughout the entire time I've been on this journey, not once has a crochet hook or comb or anything else come anywhere near my head. I've used Dr. Bronner's to wash for the majority of the time, but I ran out at one point and couldn't find anywhere to sell it in my new city (I moved for university), so I switched to using some natural bar soaps. This didn't do much harm, but it made my scalp feel a little gross, so I bought a clarifying shampoo from the grocery store. It was good in the sense that it made my hair feel clean, but it had sulphates in it which I'm not a fan of. Plus my hair felt really dry after using it, so when I went home on vacation I bought more Dr. Bronners.
So there you go 
. I can't believe it's been a full year. It's crazy how fast the time has gone. I'd like to thank everyone on this site- it was always a comfort knowing that other people were going through the same journey, and it especially made me feel better when my hair was just a pile of fuzzy knots that I wasn't the only one! also thanks to Soaring Eagle among others on this site, constantly pointing out the do's and don'ts of natural dreads. I haven't really spoken to anyone personally on here, but the site is rich with information that I otherwise wouldn't have known about!
It does slightly bother me that I still have some locks that are like half dread and half regular hair, but I guess that will go away with time.
It's been a great journey, a great first year, and I look forward to many more years of this process!
Peace and love,
-Daniel.
updated by @daniel-pazo: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM
